Nottingham Forest are already losing Anthony Elanga to Newcastle United, with Morgan Gibbs-White now linked with a switch to Tottenham Hotspur.
As the season ended, it seemed that Nuno Espírito Santo and Forest fans were in for a summer of rumours about Gibbs-White’s move to Manchester City.
However, City ended their interest in Gibbs-White and prioritised other targets instead, a relief to Forest that didn’t last long as Anthony Elanga agreed a £55m move to Newcastle to rob Nuno of at least one of his star attackers.
With Gibbs-White again attracting Champions League interest, Nottingham Forest News has spoken to transfer expert Graeme Bailey to understand how much it would take for the Reds to sell the English star.
Morgan Gibbs-White’s valuation amid Tottenham interest
Gibbs-White hasn’t entered contract talks with Forest yet, which, with two years left on his deal, will have sent alarm bells ringing at the City Ground.
David Ornstein has claimed that Spurs boss Thomas Frank is a “long-term admirer” of Gibbs-White, which will have accelerated their interest, but Bailey has revealed that it would take a monumental fee to see Forest’s creative star move to North London.
He said: “Selling Elanga wasn’t a necessity, but it’s huge profit and in turn it will mean that if someone comes in for Gibbs-White or Murillo this summer, they’re going to have to be paying £80-85m now.”
Spurs are about to spend £55m on West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus, so it would be a surprise to see them reach the £80m zone for Gibbs-White based on Daniel Levy’s previous spending habits.
If they do go all out for the Forest man, though, Edu already has potential replacements lined up for the central attacking midfield area.
Nottingham Forest have scouted Morgan Gibbs-White replacements
In terms of a like-for-like alternative to Gibbs-White, Forest have already identified Man City’s James McAtee as someone of interest.
McAtee would be available for £20m and while not playing at the level of Gibbs-White consistently yet, has shown glimpses of that quality while at City and captaining the England U21s.
Someone with more experience but in a very similar mould is Harvey Elliott, who has caught the eye of the Reds, given his situation at Liverpool.
Elliott was targeted by Forest more as a replacement for Elanga, but his skillset would suit Gibbs-White’s position more and with his vast experience already in the Premier League and Europe, could become a star under Espírito Santo.
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